Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie had never met before they came together earlier this year in a San Francisco studio to create the soundtrack for a documentary about Jack Kerouac's novel "Big Sur." But their mutual admiration for the Beat-era author inspired a dozen original songs for the film and the record "One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur." The duo is playing material from the set with a pickup band Saturday at Bimbo's 365 Club. We spoke with Farrar about the making of the project.

Q:What made you want to be a part of this project?

A: Just the fact that I have been an admirer of his work. When I was asked, I jumped at the chance. I immersed myself in the novel "Big Sur," and I was able to identify with his method of creating - throwing out your first ideas and not worrying about form or structure so much. In a weird way, I was getting to collaborate with Jack - 90 percent of the lines are his.

Q:How many Death Cab for Cutie albums do you own?

A: I don't own any. But I think it was evident right away when Ben and I met that there was a shared sensibility there - the things we have in common go pretty deep, like being able to quote from a drunken speech John Wayne gave to young people during the Vietnam War.

Q:How did things go once you guys got in the studio together?

A: We met the night before going into the recording, so it was a process of getting to know each other while we were on the clock and we were on the cameras. There wasn't a whole lot of planning going into it. We had to figure out something that would work on the spot, so it created a bond between us. There's a degree of spontaneity and looseness there that you wouldn't normally get.

Q:Do you think Jack Kerouac would have approved of these songs?

A: That's a good question. That was my biggest concern - would he really want somebody meddling with his words or ideas? In the context of the book, Jack did accept folk music and participate in sing-alongs at campfires. He also palled around with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, so that gave me the impetus I needed.

Q:Maybe you could attempt a few jazz versions of the tunes when you play live, just to be sure.

A: That was the most daunting aspect of taking on the project. Jack's pretty synonymous with jazz and writing in a lyrical bebop style, which I have no background in whatsoever. But I can relate to Western swing, so maybe that's where the parallel is. We're playing with a good group of guys. We're still in the embryonic stages of the live show, but so far it's been fun.